Preserving textiles and leather



United States Patent PRESERVING TEXTILES AND LEATHER Alton T- Whlte, Danvers, Mass.

No Drawing. Application time 21, 1954, Serial No. 438,344

6 Claims. (Cl. 167-385) This invention relates to improvements in the preservation of textiles and leather, more particularly to mildewproofing and fungus-proofing of leather and cellulosic textiles containing cotton. 1

It has long been a problem in the art to protect cotton fabrics and leather from attack by the fungi, molds, and bacteria which produce mildew. Many of the prior art materials possess suflicient fungicidal activity, but they suffer from one or more disadvantages including lack of permanence to laundering, leaching upon contact with water or other solvents, sublimation or vaporization into the atmosphere, excessive toxicity to man and animals, and others.

Accordingly,'it is among the objects of this invention to provide a composition and method for preventing mildew in cotton fabrics and leather and to provide a material resistant to mildew which remains resistant after prolonged laundering or contact with water and other solvents. Another object is to provide an agent for mildewproofing textiles which is not lost by vaporization or sublimation from the fabric. A further object is to provide a mildew-proof fabric which is not toxic to humans or domestic animals. Another object is to provide leather which is resistant to attack by fungi and yet retains all of the desirable properties of high grade leather, including its strength, flexibility and durability. These and 2,786,010 Patented Mar. 19, 1957 dissolve about 2% by weight of tetrachlorohydroquinone, which solutions are stable and are satisfactory impregnants.

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Example I A batch of impregnant solution was prepared by adding 0.7 lb. tetrachloro hydroquinone and 0.7 lb. dibutyl phthalate to 98.6 lbs. propylene glycol monomethyl ether.

Cotton duck fabric was run through the above solution,

) or mildew growth appeared on the sample, whereas an other objects will be apparent from the following description.

I accomplish the objects of my invention generally by providing a fungicidal impregnant comprising as the essential active ingredient 0.1% to 10% by weight of tetrachloro hydroquinone and as a solvent therefor, a glycol ether. A preferred embodiment comprises such a composition wherein the solvent is propylene glycol l'llJOIlO- methyl ether. Further compositions of the present invention contain as the solvent ethylene glycol monobutyl ether or Z-ethoxycthyl acetate.

My invention further comprises the method of controlling mildew on textiles and on leather which comprises applying to the textiles or leather, as the case may be, tetrachloro hydroquinone dissolved in the aforementioned solvents.

Tetrachloro hydroquinone, also known as tetrachloro-l, 4-benzenediol, is known to have fungicidal properties. Its use as a fungicide for the preservation of textiles and leather has been extremely limited, however, because no satisfactory solvents were known which would (1) dissolve enough fungicide to enable the impregnation of fabrics and leather and (2) form solutions of the fungicide which are stable solutions. Thus, solutions of tetrachloro hydroquinone in the prior art solvents were unstable and hence, unsatisfactory for impregnation of textiles and leather. I have discovered that propylene glycol monomethyl ether dissolves up to about 10% by weight of tetrachloro hydroquinone. I have further discovered that the resulting solution is stable and is an excellent impregnant for textiles and leather. Ethylene I test.

untreated cotton duck control sample buried for twentyone days had completely deteriorated. A piece of the tetraehloro hydroquinone impregnated fabric from the above example was subjected to eleven consecutive washings and dryings in a domestic automatic washer. The sample appeared to have lost none of its fungicidal properties as determined by the soil burial test. The impregnation appears to have no deleterious effect on the tensile strength of the fabric.

The dibutyl phthalate in the above example is used to render the fungicide more insoluble.

Example ll Cotton duck was impregnated as in Example I with a 0.3% solution of tetrachloro hydroquinone dissolved in propylene glycol monomethyl ether. The fabric after drying contained 0.2% of the fungicide. The fabric successfully resisted attack as measured by the soil test. The fabric produced no toxic effects on'human skin when placed in contact therewith for prolonged periods of time.

It has been found that fabrics containing 0.1% to 5% tetrachloro hydroquinone are resistant to mildew. As pointed out, cotton picks up about 70% of the solution content, necessitating the use of a somewhat more concentrated solution than the concentration on the fabric.

Example III A sheet of leather was soaked in a 1% solution of tetrachloro hydroquinone in propylene glycol monomethyl ether. The saturated leather was dried slowly in a current of air at atmospheric temperature. The resulting leather had substantially the same feel and flexibility as before impregnation. A piece of the impregnated leather sample when buried in damp soil for twenty-one days exhibited no mold growth. An untreated control sample was covered with a heavy growth of mold when subjected to the same conditions.

Example IV Cotton duck was treated as in Example I with a 1% by weight solution of tetrachloro hydroquinone in ethylene glycol monobutyl ether. The resultant fabric containing 0.7% by weight fungicide was mold and mildew resistant as determined by the soil test.

Example V Cotton duck was treated as in Example I with a 0.7% by weight solution of tetrachloro hydroquinone in 2- ethoxyethyl acetate. The dried, treated fabric contained 0.5% by weight of fungicide and possessed excellent fungicidal properties as determined by the soil immersion While the invention has been described in terms of certain embodiments, and examples, they are to be considered as illustrative rather than limiting. Various other modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art,

and it is intended to cover other such modifications as fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

Iclaim:

1. A fungicidal impregnant comprising as the essential active ingredient 0.1% to 10% by weight of tetrachloro hydroquinone and as.a solvent therefor a mono lower alkyl glycol ether.

2. A fungicidal impregnant comprising as the essential active ingredient 0.1% to 10% by weight of tetrachloro hydroquinone and as a solvent therefor propylene glycol monomethyl ether.

3. A fungicidal impregnant comprising as the essential active ingredient 0.1% to 2% by weight of tetrachloro hydroquinone and as a solvent therefor ethylene glycol monobutyl ether.

4. A fungicidal imprcgnant comprising as the essential active ingredient 0.1% to 2% by weight of tetrachloro hydroquinone and as a solvent therefor 2-ethoxyethyl acetate.

5. A fungicidal impregnant comprising as the essential active ingredient 0.1% to 10% by weight of tetrachloro hydroquinone, 0.1% to 10% by weight of dibutyl phthalate, and as a solvent therefor propylene glycol monomethyl ether.

6. A textile fabn'c resistant to mildew comprising cotton fabric impregnated with the composition of claim 1.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Ladd Nov. 14, 1944 Kagy et al. Nov. 4, 1947 Lange: Handbook of Chemistry, by the Handbook Publishers Inc., 1952, p. 1101. 

1. A FUNGICIDAL IMPREGNANT COMPRISING AS THE ESSENTIAL ACTIVE INGREDIENT 0.1% TO 10% BY WEIGHT OF TETRACHLORO HYDROQUINONE AND AS A SOLVENT THEREFOR A MONO LOWER ALKYL GLYCOL ETHER. 